The Box
by KJaneway115
Summary: Written for the VAMB Resolutions Drabble Challenge, a series of drabbles exploring Janeway and Chakotay's relationship after "Resolutions."
1. Back in Uniform

_A/N: In honor of the 20th anniversary of the airing of "Resolutions," PiOneOneZero posted a Resolutions Drabble challenge on VAMB, to write a 100 word fic related to Resolutions. These next several paragraphs were my contribution, each one exactly a hundred words. Please enjoy, and thank you to Pi for the challenge._

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THE BOX

By KJaneway115

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BACK IN UNIFORM

1.

The uniform constrained him and his neck itched against the too tight collar. She had turned away from him, so he let his eyes linger as she pushed a strand of hair out of her face. Even in uniform, she was beautiful, and his heart swelled with a love he had only just discovered. He allowed himself to feel it for a moment longer before boxing it up in a corner of his heart. She turned back to him, and for a moment, he thought he saw a glimmer of longing in her eyes before she, too, shut it away.

2.

Her uniform felt comfortable, safe. She stole a glance at him, but found his eyes searching and sad, so she turned away. She pushed an errant hair from her face as she looked at the collection of crates and boxes around her. She thought she should be happy, but her heart constricted with words unsaid, moments never lived, dreams never to be had. She turned to him, and thought she saw a glimmer of love in his eyes, but then it was gone. She shut her longing away in a box, not to be examined, and tapped her comm badge.


	2. Back Home

BACK HOME

1.

He found the box in a forgotten corner of the closet while he was packing. His heart stopped when he saw it. The hinges creaked as he opened the lid. A stone that had been polished by the flow of a faraway river, a data chip containing designs for a boat that had never been built, a seed that had never been planted. He touched his cheeks. Why were they damp? He had moved on; he was happy with someone new. Yet the box, so long shut tight, had now been opened, and he could not easily close it again.

2.

She found the sand painting while packing. As she uncovered it, she remembered the moment he had given it to her, shyly, one night after dinner. The grains of sand depicted a brave, beautiful woman with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes. "This is the way you see me?" she'd asked. He had smiled, nodded and retreated to his alcove. Now, she stared at the painting, tears stinging her eyes because she had been replaced by another. She wanted to cover the artwork, return it to the closet and forget about it, but she could not forget, not again.


	3. Backwards

BACKWARDS

1.

She rang the chime and waited, her heart pounding, the painting heavy in her hand. She wanted to turn and run, sure that he had moved on. Yet she would not leave, determined not to miss her last chance. The door slid open, and she saw him, kneeling on the floor in front of a box. She nearly dropped the painting when she recognized the box's contents and saw the tears on his face. Her voice shook when she asked him about it; relief flooded her when he answered. She knelt beside him and put her shaking hand over his.

2.

The door chimed, and he wiped at his tears. "Come in." He looked up, and there she was, carrying a sand painting. The tears on her cheeks mirrored his own. He gestured to the box on the floor in front of him. "I found this while I was packing." Her eyes followed his to the box's contents. "What's on the data chip?" she asked. "Our boat." His voice cracked. "You never forgot?" she asked, her voice shaking, too. "No. I locked it away in this box, but I could never forget, Kathryn." She held up the painting. "Neither could I."


	4. Forwards

FORWARDS

The box rested, open, on the mantle. Above it hung a sand painting of a woman with bright eyes and fiery hair. Outside, a seed flourished, the buds of Talaxian tomatoes just beginning to sprout in the springtime air. A path led from the garden down to a river, where a small boat bobbed in the water, tied to a short, wooden dock. On the shore, a boy played in the sand, laughing delightedly. Nearby, his father pulled his mother into an embrace. "Aren't you glad we remembered?" She nodded, grateful that some truths refused to be shut away forever


End file.
